D-Day: Heroic Crusade or Pyrrhic Victory

Was D-Day the beginning of a heroic crusade to “Free Europe” or was it a pyrrhic victory for the United States? Did the collectivism that grew at home during World War II help save our liberty or destroy it?

Today marks the 68th anniversary of the invasion of fortress Europe by Allied forces, better known as “D-Day.” On that day 156,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy. Over 4,000 of them were killed and another 6,000 were wounded. On the German side it is estimated that 4,000-9,000 German soldiers were killed and wounded. Over 425,000 Allied and German troops were killed, wounded or went missing during the fight. But that is just the beginning of the story of the Battle of Normandy.

Today, twenty-seven war cemeteries hold the remains of over 110,000 dead from both sides: 77,866 German, 9386 American, 17,769 British, 5002 Canadian and 650 Poles. Between 15,000 and 20,000 French civilians were killed, mainly as a result of Allied bombing. Thousands more fled their homes to escape the fighting.

The men who died on those beaches deserve to be commended. If you want an accurate picture of what happened on those bloody beaches you should definitely watch Saving Private Ryan. It is an incredible movie that shows in gruesome detail the horrors of war and how bodies, minds and lives are shattered by it. Today there will be plenty of pundits speaking of how “America saved Europe” and how D-Day demonstrates what a nation can accomplish when it pulls together for a common cause. But when we look at a single battle, like the Battle of Normandy, we fail to see the big picture of why the war was actually fought and what was accomplished by all the bloodshed.

While soldiers were dying overseas the United States government was growing exponentially at home. The New Deal had been solidified and the American people were becoming more and more accepting of government control over their daily lives. John T Flynn called this growing intervention of the Feds into the private sector as “the good fascism” as opposed to “the bad fascism of the Nazis.” This growing central planning of individual’s lives by the bureaucrats in Washington and the growing alliance of Big Government and Big Business was not considered by most Americas to be the “bad Fascism of the Nazis.” But what is ironic is that at the core of what the soldiers were fighting and dying to eradicate on the beaches of Normandy, was actually growing at home with every ship built, with every ration cared issued and with every soldier drafted.

When an individual is “drafted” to go to war he is no longer a free man. He is a killing tool of the ruling class. He has no more free will, he must go to where they tell him and kill who they tell him kill or he will be imprisoned or killed. The draft, plain and simple, is a form of slavery. Daniel Webster spoke out against the first proposed draft in the U.S. for the war of 1812:

“Nor is it, Sir, for the defense of his own house & home, that he who is the subject of military draft is to perform the task allotted to him. You will put him upon a service equally foreign to his interests & abhorrent to his feelings. With his aid you are to push your purposes of conquest. The battles which he is to fight are the battles of invasion; battles which he detests perhaps & abhors, less from the danger & the death that gathers over them, & the blood with which they drench the plain, than from the principles in which they have their origin..”

He argued that if a man’s life and property are at stake he will defend it. There is no need to “draft” him. It is only in wars of aggression and conquest does a government resort to conscription. And it’s not only the soldiers who are conscripted by the State during war.

Under the aegis of war the State takes control of all “vital resource” and “rations” them out to the populace. The U.S. Office of Price Administration (OPA) in 1942 froze prices in the U.S. on practically all everyday goods and rationed gas, food, shoes, tires and most items individuals needed or wanted to buy. It was done so everyone got their fair share. This type of “collectivist” thinking has pervaded American political thought ever since. It is during times of war Individualism is suppressed and the collective is raised above all. The individual must give up his freedom to the government’s central planners so they will ensure that “everyone gets their fair share”.

I don’t like the term “fair share” but let’s examine using their terminology of the time to see who really received their “fair share” during WWII. Did the boys who died on the beaches of Normandy or those unfortunate souls on the Bataan Death March get their fair share? Did all the wives, sisters, and moms who would never see their loved ones again get their fair share? Did the hundreds of thousands of wounded men who came home after the war ended get their fair share? Did the masses of individuals at home who lost almost all control over their daily lives for four years get their fair share?

The politicians, the bureaucrats, the bankers, all manner of manufacturers who sold to the government, and the merchants of death got more than their “fair share.” They stayed at home and made huge profits while others suffered imeasurable physical and emotional pain. How many of the politicians and bankers and merchants of death were shot and killed on the beaches of Normandy or were marched to death in the jungles of the Philippines? Like Smedley Butler, a two-time Medal of Honor winner, wrote “War is a Racket.” And that is exactly why it is waged.

Today we live in an ever-increasing collectivist society at home and the American government’s foreign policy abroad can only be described as Imperialistic. Did the men on D-Day die so that the U.S. government could accrue 16 trillion in debt? Did the men die on D-Day so that Amish folks and others can’t buy unpasteurized milk? Did the men die on the beaches of Normandy so that the U.S. government can oust any Middle Eastern leader it wants to? Did the men did on D-Day so that over 50% of your income today is stolen from you at the point of a gun? Did the men die on the beaches of Normandy so that you have to live in fear that the Small Arms treaty being considered in the U.N. will deny your God-given right to “bear arms”? Did the men on D-Day die so that the U.S. dollar would be destroyed by the printing presses of the Federal Reserve? Did the men on D-Day die so that the U.S. military could have 900 military installations around the world? Did the men die on the beaches of Normandy so the U.S. President could compile a secret kill list of individuals including U.S. citizens and assassinate them anywhere around the world at will? Did the men on D-Day die so the U.S. Government would “abandon the free enterprise system to save it”?

WWII set the stage for the Leviathan that we are suffering under today. The Last Great War was fought not to make the world safe for individual liberty or even for democracy. It was waged to benefit the bankers, the war profiteers, and the politicians. While the soldiers and their families paid the horrific price in blood on the battle field and broken hearts at home. And we are still today paying for those war profits from WWII. That debt has never been paid off. When we honor those who have fallen let us not forget that it is always politicians who start the wars and it is always the citizens, who generation after generation pay the price.

As Ayn Rand wrote either a Society is based upon the principles ofc ollectivism or that of Individualism. This country was founded on the principles of Individualism. That is a belief that every person has the inalienable right to their life, liberty and property and that no man or group of men have the right to take it away. Fascism, communism, socialism, and crony capitalism are all forms of collectivism. And Its basic tenet is that man has no rights ; that his work, his body, and his personality belong to the group, the group can do with him what it pleases, for the sake of whatever it decides is in its best interest. And that is exactly what happened in WWII to the soldiers sent to Europe and the Pacific and to the citizenry at home.

WWII did not make us any freer. It only ended up enslaving us even more to the federal government. FDR wanted WWII, in particular to benefit the Rockefeller in the Pacific and Morgans in Europe. FDR knew that the attacks on Pearl Harbor were going to happen, he forced the Japanese to attack and welcomed it. The Battle for Normandy occurred mainly because the banking houses wanted to protect their investments overseas. That is not something that will be taught in school and it wasn’t something Ronald Reagan spoke about during his famous speech on the beeches of Normandy.

All governments will use ever pretext especially war to further impoverish, maim, kill and enslave individuals under their dominion. That is why I advocate for the elimination of the State as we know it and to live in what is commonly called and an anarcho-capitalist society. This type of society is based upon the principles of individualism, natural justice and voluntary contracts. Every function that is handled by government today including defense would be provided on the free market. Only then would we see an end to perpetual war.

The baby today is freedom. The fire is the American government consuming everything in its path. Now is the time to turn back the tide of collectivism at home, return individual liberty back to America and peaceful trade with the rest of the world.

“I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or to speak, or write, with moderation. No! no! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; — but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present.” - William Loyd Garrison

Well, the real victory was not necessarily over the Nazis, but in keeping the Soviets out of Western Europe. At that time, Stalin was going to win the war with or without the second front. It was just a question of where the Red Army was going to stop after beating Hitler.

And thus the reason the Libertarians can never have my vote.. a foreign policy based on wishful thinking and cotton headed dreams

As far as USSR winning on its own... with out the aid of the allies in fuel food and arms moscow would in all likelihood fallen and Stalin removed.. would the soviet replacement fought on or made a deal... the world wonders...

And thus the reason the Libertarians can never have my vote.. a foreign policy based on wishful thinking and cotton headed dreams

In the WW II history thread with the newspapers one can read about many of FDR’s programs getting the ax, defunded, etc. Other researchers have shown that congress started opposing the New Deal policies before WW II and the Depression was easing before the war.

However, our success in WW II did help to solidify FDR as a great president in many people’s minds. My mom for one “FDR ended the Depression and won the War”. My old man (WWII vet - RIP)HATED FDR.

My dad's cousin did an interview for a newspaper awhile ago. he was at the surrender of some large group (10,000) of SS soldiers at the end of the war. The SS wanted to not surrender, but to be allowed to fight as their own unit along side the U.S. as we turned our forces against the Soviets.

My dad would tell of how mad he was that we didn't take care of business then as well. Although I imagine it would have been a hard sell to tell the folks back home that their boys just won the war, but were not coming home as now they were going to fight their allies.

Was D-Day the beginning of a heroic crusade to “Free Europe”

The Western world could use a “crusade” today~~~this time it’s about the creeping spread of islam~

would the soviet replacement fought on or made a deal... the world wonders...

I believe the Russian Army would have gotten behind Vlasov if the Bolsheviks fell. That was the best case scenario, that Hitler would succeed to the point where Stalin and the Bolsheviks are out of power, and Russia rallies behind a non-Communist to defeat Germany and at least create a new Russian state.

The latter I think more probable. a Russia with much less Europe if any. With the soviets out of the fight, the resources left to the axis would have made Overlord nearly impossible. A new cold war would probably ensue after some time with US/BRIT vs Central Europe Powers. But as with all things one can not really know. (this all depends on the soviets falling early enough that Brittan would still be recovering from 1940 and the USA not in the War at all till 42.

“War is a Racket.” And that is exactly why it is waged.

Simplistic. Sometimes war is waged as a racket of the ruling classes. Sometimes it is waged because it is necessary.

Stopping the Nazis was necessary. Some no doubt made a racket out of it. That didn't make it any less necessary.

D-Day was just another step in a huge global world. It was important but but seems that younger people sometimes think the war began and ended on D-Day. Maybe that’s because of the high profile movie a few years ago. Landing at Normandy was critical but it only got us on the continent. The big work of rolling the German army eastward had just begun.

As Ayn Rand wrote either a Society is based upon the principles ofc ollectivism or that of Individualism. This country was founded on the principles of Individualism.

Much of the dangerous settlement of our nation was done by Christian individualists. A point Miss Rand would have doubtless ignored.

The writer is nuts. We didn't have any choice other than to enter WWII.

Had the US not rescued Britain, saved France, and overthrown Fascism in Italy, millions more would have died in Europe, Germany would have likely developed its own atomic bomb, and the US would have been a sitting duck with no strong allies left. Russia would likely have been over-ran with India and China not far behind.

Lets face it, Adolph Hitler was the biggest contributer to Germany’s defeat. His fateful decision to stop the drive on Moscow and concentrate on those bogeymen behind his back in Kiev during August/September 1941 sealed Germany’s defeat. Up to that point if the drive on Moscow was continued instead of abandoned for several weeks, the Soviet Union’s defeat was a certainty. He should have had the Hungarians, Rumanians and Italians contain the trapped Soviet armies in the Ukraine and continued the drive on Moscow with the Wermacht, which was at the pinnacle of its success.
Yes, all the lend lease trucks mechanized the Soviet armored divisions staring in 1942. The Soviet mechanization would not have made up for German operational excellence except for Hitler’s repeated meddling in the East.

The Battle for Normandy occurred mainly because the banking houses wanted to protect their investments overseas.

What investments overseas? Explain.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.